The Wise Guy is LunaStone's classic overdrive pedal, a compact overdrive that the maker describes as giving a cutting, mid-focused crunch with the transparency of a tube amp pushed into saturation. It runs on cascading gain stages rather than onboard tubes, offers two gain modes on a toggle switch, a dedicated tone control, and an independent level booster that adds up to 15 dB. LunaStone says it delivers unrivaled sustain and cleans up nicely when you back off on your guitar's volume knob1.
Controls and how it works
The pedal's layout is straightforward: a toggle switch selects between two overdrive voices, knobs set gain, level and tone, and the booster sits alongside the overdrive rather than in front of it1.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| OD1 / OD2 toggle | OD1 at a gentle gain setting gives subtle yet crunchy tone for rhythm parts and bluesy riffs; OD2 gives more gain and sustain1 |
| Tone | Dedicated tone control to tailor the high frequencies1 |
| Level booster | Independent booster adding up to 15 dB, which LunaStone says helps drive a tube amp into saturation1 |
LunaStone describes the circuit as achieving its warm, tube-like overdrive purely from cascading gain stages, much like in a real tube amp, with no tubes on board1. Because the booster is independent, it can be used on its own as a clean boost or stacked with the overdrive. In a demo for LunaStone, Andy of ProGuitarShop showed stacking the clean boost with a low-gain overdrive to revoice the neck pickup, alongside what he called bread-and-butter effects like Smooth Sustain and Classic Mid Bump2.
On the board
The enclosure is built with pedalboards in mind: the jacks and DC plug are top-mounted, which LunaStone says saves space on your pedal board1. Connections are Neutrik jack connectors1.
The Wise Guy takes a 9V battery or a standard 9V DC center negative adaptor, which is not included with the pedal1.
History and demos
The Wise Guy is one of the very first LunaStone pedals. In a demo video on the LunaStone site, Steen Grøntved said "Wise Guy and Big Fella were the very first members" of the lineup3. The Big Fella, its early companion, has its own page at the LunaStone Big Fella.
LunaStone has published two demos that show the pedal in detail. In one, Martin Klaja takes up the challenge of demoing the Wise Guy: first up a great rock track with several layers of various guitars, including a Telecaster, a Stratocaster and a few Les Pauls, then an explanation of the pedal design and features, and finally a session of genuine knob-tweaking of tones4. Grøntved has also demonstrated three LunaStone pedals himself, including the Wise Guy, on video3.
LunaStone's later overdrive line grew well beyond these first pedals: the range now includes the TrueOverDrive 2, the Three Stage Rocket and the Blue Drive 1, among others3.
Videos
ProGuitarShopDemos
Brett Kingman
Brett Kingman
Questions
Does the LunaStone Wise Guy have true bypass?
Yes. LunaStone says the Wise Guy uses True Bypass Switching, which the maker describes as passing your tone on as purely as possible when the pedal is bypassed. With the effect switched off, your guitar signal reaches the amp without passing through the overdrive circuit.
Can the Wise Guy run on a battery?
Yes. LunaStone lists a 9V battery as the battery type for the Wise Guy. It can also be powered from a standard 9V DC center negative adaptor, which is not included with the pedal. The pedal weighs 358 g (13 oz) without a battery fitted.
Who designed the LunaStone Wise Guy?
The Wise Guy was designed by Steen Grøntved. LunaStone's product page credits the dynamic control and what it calls the real cascading amp-like transparency of Grøntved's design. Grøntved has also demonstrated the pedal himself in videos on the LunaStone site.
Does the Wise Guy clean up with the guitar volume knob?
Yes. LunaStone says the pedal delivers unrivaled sustain and cleans up nicely when you back off on your guitar's volume knob. That response to the guitar's volume control is part of how the maker presents the pedal as an amp-like overdrive.
Sources (4)
- Wise Guy, LunaStone
- ProGuitarShop, LunaStone, 2016-08-06
- Steen Grøntved Demos 3 LunaStone Pedals, LunaStone, 2017-07-31
- Martin Klaja is (and checks out) The Wise Guy, LunaStone, 2017-07-31
